Conventionally, printers are configured to receive print commands from a plurality of connected devices such as mobile phones, computing devices or the like. The printer adds all the print commands in a queue based on the known concept of FIFO (first in first out). And further, the printers are not capable of shuffling the queues. As a result, if a large document printing command comes first to a printer followed by a print command of a minor document (e.g., one or two pages), the printer prints the large document first and keeps the print command of the minor document in the queue. This results in frustration to the person who is in urgency of printing just one or two pages.
For example, in offices, where a printer is shared between multiple users, a user may initiate printing of a document of hundred pages, which may take few minutes to print. Meanwhile, another user may come up with a requirement to print just one page of a letter. In such scenarios, one page letter may not be printed unless all the hundred pages of the documents are printed first. The only possible solution is to manually cancel the printing process of the hundred pages, then print the single page of letter, and re-start the printing of the hundred pages from the last printed page. This solution is not user friendly and is prone to human errors, which may lead to waste of time, energy, and resources.
Recently, due to advancements in the printing technology, few printers came up that are capable of prioritizing print commands over other print commands based on certain criteria and pre-set preferences. For example, prints from certain devices may be given priority over prints given from other devices. Additionally, an administrator may manually move a print job up in the queue. Such solutions though are efficient only if the print process is not started. Such technology is only useful in prioritizing print jobs waiting in queue and not for interrupting the print process already under process.
Another solution for the aforementioned problem was found with the introduction of advanced software of printer apparatuses that were capable of pausing a running print job for printing a priority print job and then resume to the printing of the previously running print job. The solution however, required human intervention. Also, the solution raised another problem related to security of the printed matter as it required humans to manually separate the printouts of the two print jobs. The task to find and separate one or two pages of a print job from thousand pages of another print job could be cumbersome and is prone to error.
Therefore, there exists a need for efficient methods and systems for prioritizing minor print jobs over large print jobs, but are also capable of segregating the printouts of the minor print jobs from the printouts of the large print jobs, without any human intervention.